What started as the final project for a small women studies class at Duke is now a worldwide movement — involving hundreds of thousands of people — to bring new meaning to the term “feminism.”
This week, UNC’s multicultural sorority Omega Phi Beta is hosting the campaign here on campus.
The sorority’s three-day event, which ends today, follows the format set by a student-created project called “Who Needs Feminism?”
The project was launched by students of Dr. Rachel Seidman, a women studies lecturer at Duke. Seidman is also the associate director of UNC’s Southern Oral History Program.
Click here to read Seidman’s opinion piece in the Christian Science Monitor about her students’ project in light of Missouri Rep. Aken’s controversial remarks about rape.
Anyone who wants to be involved writes his or her personal response to the question, “Who needs feminism?” on a sheet of paper.
The message is photographed and shared online through the “Who Needs Feminism?” Facebook page and Tumblr site.
“The main goal is to spread awareness about what feminism actually is,” Michelle Pujals, president of UNC’s chapter Omega Phi Beta, said.
Rita Phetmixay, the sorority’s academic chair, said the event is meant to spark discussion.
“A majority of people see feminism as a radical movement,” she said. “It’s more about awareness. It’s about equality.”
Although the movement only recently spread to Chapel Hill, it has already impacted people in at least 144 countries, Seidman said.
100,000 people from around the world have visited the campaign’s Tumblr site, and almost 17,000 people have liked the “Who Needs Feminism?” Facebook page started by Seidman’s students.
Pujals said their event specific to UNC collected about 138 photographs on Wednesday and Thursday from people all over the country.
Jeff DeLuca, a 2012 UNC graduate, posted on the event’s Facebook page a photograph of himself holding a sign with his own handwritten message: “I need feminism b/c I shouldn’t feel hesitant to call what happened to me ‘rape’ when I know it was.”
DeLuca said he felt a responsibility to speak out.
“It helps to know that you’re not the only one out there,” he said. “Whether you’re male or female or intersex or whatever, you have the right to determine what happens to your own body.”
Phetmixay said the campaign empowers people to publically discuss sensitive issues.
“It says such a strong thing about this movement that it creates such a sense of community,” she said. “It’s a snowball effect — one story can touch thousands.”
Joe Bryant, a senior who visited the “Who Needs Feminism?” table in the Pit Thursday afternoon, said he learned about the event through social media like Instagram and Facebook.
“For me, (feminism) means equality and respect across sexes and genders, not categorizing and labeling,” Bryant said.
Pujals said she is glad the event has reached so many people because feminism is a topic that should involve everyone.
“Society can’t really function to its full potential if half of the population is disenfranchised,” she said. “This campaign will show people that it’s applicable to everybody.”
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